The Complete Idiot's Guide to Making Natural Soaps

You love pampering yourself with fragrant, decadent soaps. Now imagine all the lovely bar and liquid soaps you can create for yourself or to give as gifts, using combinations of natural oils and colors. And if you're allergic to fragrances, no problem. You can make sure your handcrafted soaps don't contain any.

Lather up! The Complete Idiot's Guide® to Making Natural Soaps spells out everything new soap-makers need to know to create all kinds of natural soaps.

Welcome to the fun adventure that is natural, homemade soap! As you'll soon discover, soap-making is an exciting pastime where you can really get creative. The oil, fragrance, and color combinations you can put together in your soaps are nearly endless!

One word of warning, though: you'll soon find yourself nearly totally preoccupied with soap! (We don't think that's a bad thing, though!) You'll think about new combinations as you travel to work. You'll join other soap-makers on online bulletin and discussion boards, swapping recipes and getting new ideas. But it'll go further than that.

You'll amaze your family and friends with your talents as a full-fledged soap-maker, and you're sure to garner lots of "Oooh!"s and "Aaah!"s as loved ones see what you've created. You'll probably get some orders or "Would you make me some soap?" requests, too!

But perhaps best of all is the fragrance oils that will fill your home with the most delicious and intoxicating scents on "soaping day". And do we even have to mention how soft and smooth your skin will become when you start using your own natural soaps? You'll never want to go back to mass-produced store-bought soap again!

The book you hold in your hands is your one-stop guide to help you get started making your own natural soaps at home. Let your creativity soar, and above all, have fun!

Sally W. Trew is the owner of Apples, Woods and Berries (awbsuppliescom), an online soap-maker's supply business. Sally teaches soap-making classes and creates her own soaps and recipes. She is owner and co-owner of two Yahoo! soap-maker groups.
Zonella B. Gould, owner of Bosque Bath and Body (bosquebathandbody.com), makes close to 3,000 bars of soap every year, which she sells wholesale and on her website.

Both Sally Trew and Zonella Gould were born and raised in the great state of Texas. Sally was raised on a cattle and cutting horse ranch, while Zonella was raised on a farm. They didn't meet until early 2003, when Sally had made her first batch of soap and posted a question to a Yahoo! group of soap-makers. Zonella answered Sally's question, and their friendship began over a soap pot, so to speak. In 2008, Zonella and Sally decided they would write a book about soap-making together, each bringing her own special talents to the pages. That book is called Soap and Other Obsessions (Apples, Woods and Berries, 2008). This is their second book together

Sally lives in Texas, about 50 miles from Dallas. Although she no longer lives on a big working ranch, she still loves living in the country with her husband, London-born photographer Mark Trew Sally owns a small online soap-maker's supply business called Apples, Woods and Berries (www.awbsupplies.com), and she's been teaching soap-making and bath-and-body classes for about two years. During the day you can find Sally in her workshop making soaps or working on a new formula. It's one of her passions. Sally has three children and six grandchildren

Today, Zonella lives in Texas on beautiful Lake Whitney. She was inspired to start making soap by her memories of her grandmother, whose family made or grew almost everything they had .Zonella is a master soap-maker and owner of Bosque Bath and Body (www. bosquebathandbody.com). Each year, she makes and sells an average of 3,000 bars of soap and other products such as lotions and creams. She's mother to two sons, grandmother to three granddaughters, and great-grandmother to two.